THE DOOMED LOON

maine
and a freshwater lake cold and fragrant 
a perfect habitat for the bird known as the loon 
and here i sit observing one which is by itself, 
which is unusual for usually they exist in pairs 
and mate for life.

it's about 60 feet away
and if i approach it it will dive underwater to escape me

i draw closer and closer, but this loon does not move 
at all
closer still, 20 feet away, 10 feet away, no reaction 
from this bird/
soon i am on top of this feathered creature and still 
it does not make any attempt to flee

there is something grossly wrong here/ 
unnatural i say for i know these loons well/ 
this one must just be sick and suffering 
although the cause is not apparent 
i am able to actually touch the bird, something that 
under ordinary circumstances they wouldn't let me do, 
for as soon as i would move in their direction, 
they would flee
with no uncertainty

i call the animal warden 
she comes down and sees for herself the loon's plight/ 
she has me hold the loon's head in place to prevent it 
from its biting her and examines the bird

lead poisoning from fish ingesting sinkers used by 
the numerous sports fishermen who use this cold 
water lake appears to be at the bottom of the loon's 
ailments

the loon's poisoning is so severe that it cannot be 
saved and euthanasia appears to be the only answer 
to humanely put the creature out of its terminal 
misery.
this proceeds as a matter of form, for this loon is 
not the first of its kind to succumb to the residuals 
of man having fun:
fish ingesting lead sinkers, and the loon's ingesting 
the fish
the subsequent autopsy confirms the warden's suspicions

when man's intentions and nature's habits of untold 
generations of wild species clash with each other 
it is usually the natural that gives way 
for man introduces elements into nature's environments 
that nature finds alien and often toxic

such was the case for this loon
who for untold thousands of generations remained
unmolested/
it is man whose numbers, mobility, and technology 
has increased as well as access to and use of this remote 
lake that underwrote this loon's demise

but who is to stop man from his use of lead sinkers 
that began the sequence of events that made destroying 
this bird a necessity?
only the action of other men 
lawmakers and enforcers of the law who in fact can 
and will do their jobs to limit fishing

otherwise maine woodland lakes might someday be 
devoid of this example of the natural order, 
being pushed further north to areas where man is 
fewer in numbers

with the loon, we are not talking about the adaptability 
of suburban squirms or bears that can eat almost 
anything, including human refuse/ 
here its diet is specific and it cannot go anywhere 
other than its traditional habitat, the cold water 
lakes that provide its body a cooling effect to prevent 
their dying from overheating

but to the average fisherman, the fish is all that matters/ 
man eats not the whole fish, just the parts that he wants/ 
the loons is not so selective, nor can it be 
to the loon the fish is a fish, a meal ingested whole 
and this often includes man's lead sinkers

this particular loon has become part of my history, 
my experience
i grieved to see its demise, but from its autopsy at 
least some of us men have learned something that with 
determination on the part of a few men and a little 
bit of luck, may provide a resilient nature in assuring 
that this species will not become extinct in the lakes 
of maine, once remote and inaccessible

man must change his way of fishing or his habits 
and that may be not easy to do...